The headquarters of the European Union in Brussels, Belgium, with flags of the EU member countries. File photo.
By Ociel Alà López — Nov 30, 2023
Two weeks ago, when the European Union (EU) extended the sanctions on Venezuela for six more months, it received a harsh response from the president of the National Assembly of Venezuela, Jorge RodrÃguez, who accused Brussels of violating the Barbados agreements and dismissed the possibility for the EU to participate as an observer in the 2024 presidential election.
However, the Caracas-Brussels confrontation generated a new episode on November 27 with the decision of the European Union to relax sanctions against Venezuela. The relaxation includes not only the economic activities of the state or the oil industry, but also government officials who are on the list of sanctions, who may now be allowed to participate in international policies involving humanitarian aid.
In other words, the 27 European countries are taking an important step to alleviate sanctions, as they are “unfreezing” political and financial figures of the Venezuelan state, which would give them back the status of international recognition by Europe at a time when European companies are eager for Venezuelan oil and gas.
European Union Eases Some Illegal Sanctions Against Venezuela
This step by Europe can be understood within the context of Europe’s ongoing energy crisis and required a green light from Washington to normalize trade relations with Venezuela regarding hydrocarbons. In October, the US began a policy of relaxing sanctions after the signing of the agreements in Barbados between the Venezuelan government and the opposition.
Despite expectations from far-right factions in Venezuela and the US, analysts widely anticipate that the relaxed sanctions will not be reinstated. Instead, there’s a prevailing belief that Venezuela’s re-integration into Western trade is an irreversible reality in the short and medium term.
The European Union’s decision goes in the same direction and relaxes the “ultimatum” atmosphere of November 30. Everything seems to indicate that Venezuela is on the way to normalizing its oil activity.
Seen in this light, Europe’s decision has absolutely nothing to do with human rights or humanitarian issues, as claimed in its statement in which it not only relaxes sanctions on Venezuela, but also on a large group of countries. Instead, this decision just follows the shift in the Biden administration’s relations with Venezuela.
Just as the European Union set up its entire financial architecture to play Washington’s game at a time when former US President Donald Trump was being very aggressive against Venezuela and wanted to isolate the country from the world oil market, now the EU is once again following into the current US president’s footsteps to structurally relax the sanctions.
The West needs Venezuelan oil, and the sanctions imposed against Venezuela are now impacting Europe and the US more than Venezuela itself, which survived the worst years of imperialist aggression.
(RT)
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/DZ
Ociel Ali Lopez
Ociel Alà López is a political analyst, professor at the Universidad Central de Venezuela, and contributor to various Venezuelan, Latin American, and European outlets. His book Dale más Gasolina won the municipal literature award in social research.
